Witness is one of the great Hollywood star vehicles. It’s high concept, a cop undercover in the Amish community, but it’s a drama about people connecting. Harrison Ford uses his star power and it launches Kelly McGillis, and establishes Alexander Godunov as an actor too. These are the kinds of movies Hollywood stopped making, and don’t say streaming because they’re not this good either.
Arrow’s new 4K UHD showcases beautiful locations in Lancaster, PA and the city of Philadelphia. The most striking feature is the Amish garb, which takes advantage of 4K’s deep, pure black. Against the sterile police stations and city businesses, they look even more out of their element.
But that element is full of shadow with the natural light too. The 4 a.m. barn milking had deep silhouettes. Witness also retains the natural grain of 1985 film too.
There’s no real surround sound in 1985 and the overall sound is a hushed whisper. So you may need to crank it up, but be sure to anticipate the gunshots when the dirty cops arm up. The score will swell in the rears, especially during the barn raising.
Historian Jarret Gahan gives a well researched soup to nuts history of the film in his commentary track. From its beginnings as a TV movie script adapted for episodes of Gunsmoke and How the West Was Won, Gahan keeps the facts coming.
Cinematographer John Seale talks about having to avoid filming actual Amish people in Lancaster and explains how he achieved realistic lighting both in the city and on the Amish farm. He gets scene specific how they filmed the corn silo scene with a fake bottom and explains an out of focus shot.
Staci Layne Wilson’s video essay addresses the actors’ careers at the point of Witness, and physical gestures that convey character.
A 1985 interview with Ford is amusingly cringe. Perhaps the reporter Bobbie Wygant didn’t know his reputation yet, but Ford is not having her questions, yet he’s being polite to support Witness.
In a DVD-era interview, Weir discusses cutting dialogue, Amish people seeing Ford beat up the bullies, and the Lukas Haas bathroom scene. The hour long, five-part documentary from the 2005 DVD is here along with archival EPK spots.
A four minute deleted scene shows Samuel seeing Coleco Donkey Kong and Rachel cleaning book’s sister’s kitchen.